Gratitude is…

 

In this part of the world we take for granted the ability to go into our favourite supermarket or green grocer and pick out the juiciest and freshest fruits and vegetables.  This juicy Golden Delicious is one of my favourites in the fall as it is so crisp and has that just tart taste that wakes up my taste buds.  I give gratitude to the farmer who grew this thing of beauty.  What do you give gratitude for today.

Joining Lisa Gordon our host for The Creative Exchange and to Kim Klassen who hosts Texture Tuesday.   I have used two textures for my photo.  I used a texture by French Kiss called “deep lemon fresco” and Kim Klassen’s “and then some”.

Valerie

A Study in Shapes for Mosaic Monday

I had a hard time deciding what to photograph this week.  I seem to be in a slump for something fresh and new.   I remembered that a few weeks ago I had walked around the Sandbox looking for shapes for a photography class.  The lesson that week was being aware of shapes, lines, textures.   These are a few of the photos I took for that lesson.  There is the circle as in the birdhouse; a sphere of a seedhead of a giant Allium, the heart shaped leaf of Jack Frost Brunnera; a square or diagonal in a piece of lattice; the octagon shape of the stop sign; the oval shape of the Smoke Bush, a spiral on a piece of a sign; a bullseye of a knot in the tree and a vee shape in the crouch of the apple tree.  The template this week was from CoffeeShopBlog called "to the nines'.   

I will be joining our host Mary for Mosaic Monday.   Hope you are enjoying your weekend.  The shopping centres are packed with people this weekend as Christmas shopping becomes the focus of the season.   I am trying to avoid it but it will catch up with me and I get panicing to get it done.    Valerie

A Leaf Was Calling for Macro Friday

 

 

As I was washing up some dishes yesterday my eye kept coming back to a leaf in the grass in the backyard.   It was calling to me as the light was filtering through it and the grass surrounding it.   I just felt compelled to grab the camera and take it’s picture.  Down on my belly in the wet grass I went with the macro lens on my Canon.  I left it as I took it SOOC.   Seems I got some nice bokeh in it too.

Laura is our host for Macro Friday.  I will be joining here today.   I do hope our friends in the US are not feeling too full after yesterdays Thanksgiving dinner.  Valerie

Allium Seedheads

 

The seedheads of the Allium are looking interesting in the garden.  The black seed in the middle is in stark contrast to the parchment casings and I love the umbel shape of them.  For Kim Klassen’s Texture Tuesday challenge we choose what ever textures we wanted to use as long as one of them was Kim’s.   So, I chose an overlay from Shadowhouse Creations called Box 5.  I used the blending mode overlay at 67% to just allow the snowy dots to show through.  I then used Kim’s texture called  “yesteryear” on blending mode softlight and at 70%.   I then adjusted the saturation to lighten the whole look.

I will be joining Lisa Gordon for the Creative Exchange where creativity is given free reign.  There are many great photographers over there.   Check it out.   Valerie

November Colour in the Sandbox

Rita at the Coffeeshop Blog is a whiz at making templates for collages or storyboards and lots of actions for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. If you haven’t visited her website please go and visit.   I shamelessly download just about everyone she comes up with.   This morning I was out in the Sandbox trying to find something for my Mosaic Monday post and as I went around the side of the house I spotted a spot of pink peeking out of the leaves.   Glory be it was a primula in bloom. That brought a big smile to my face.  Who would have thought in November this little spring bloomer would send up a bloom.   The Belacamba chinensis has a lovely orange spotted bloom in the summer but in fall it produces these almost black seed heads.   The templates I used was a colourblock one and I used some brushes to illustrate the colours in the picture.  I just could not get the true colour as I was putting them on a too saturated colourboard.   Have to practice with that some more.


Monday is Mosaic Monday at Mary’s.   Come over and visit or join in.   Have a great week.  Valerie

A Vase in Macro

 

 

I have a macro lens for my “Lensbaby composer” that I like to use.  It gets me right in close but also gives me those blurred out spots that I enjoy.   I took many pictures this week of some carnations but I also took some pictures of the vase as I like the basket weave texture in it.

I will be joining Laura at Blogging from Bolivia for Macro Friday.  We had a dusting of snow last night.   I guess I had better get the snow tires out of the garage and arrange to have them put on the van this week.   Are you ready for winter?    Enjoy the day.   Valerie

Carnation Petals

 

 

I am taking a course offered by Susannah Conway called Photo Meditations at the moment.   I need to develop my photograph style and she gives great lessons on how to look at different aspects as we take pictures such as lines, texture, colour, shapes. This week she asked us to take our camera and focus on one thing as a muse and just take pictures of that muse in all kinds of ways looking at every angle of it.   I had purchased some carnations to cheer me up because I had been housebound for a couple of weeks. So, the carnations became my muse this morning.   This photo was shot with my lensbaby lens.  I love how you can change the sweetspot (the focus) and get those soft and shallow depth of field.  The petals of the carnation are the focus and they are so pretty and delicate.   You might try this idea with your own camera.  

I am joining Lisa Gordon for the Creative Exchange.   If you need inspiration of photos this is the place to look.  Wonderful pictures.    Have a great day.   Valerie

Not Quite Christmas Cactus

 

The Christmas Cactus or botanically speaking Schlumbergera x buckleyi is beginning to bloom in the kitchen.   I have three colours; a pale pink, a white, a red-orange one.   The pale pink was the first to bloom this week.  They are so delicate.  The Christmas cactus is a short-day plant blooming from mid October.  Does not like to be overwatered but better kept on the dry side out of drafts.  If it is moved as the new blooms are forming it will abort all the setting buds.  Just let it be and enjoy it.  Comes in a rainbow of colours.

Thanks to all the nice comments about my cold which turned into bronchitus.  I am now on antibiotics and should  be back to normal again soon. Well I hope so.  I have not got around to visiting as much as I would like to.  ps. I would like to thank Isabelle LaFrance for the template that I used today. 

I will be joining Mary for Mosaic Monday.   See you there.   Valerie

Is Two for Tea?

 

Would you laugh if I told that this morning I could not find my glasses.  I looked all over the house for them today and did not find them.   My husband had a look around when he got home from work and he found them but he won’t tell me where.   I had to get by with a pair of magnified glasses that I purchased at the grocery store some time ago to keep by the computer.   I have been under the weather with a bad cold for the last week so I need a little sympathy.   Anyway,  I decided on this photo for Kim Klassen’s challenge this week of using the number 2.    Having two delicious desserts on your plate is better than one.   I used a Kim Klassen texture called scripted.   The first layer was blended at multiply at 63% and the second was blended at softlight at 100%. I adjusted the levels and added text.   That’s it. Looks kind of vintagy.

I will be joining Lisa Gordon for the Creative Exchange and Kim Klassen Café for Texture Tuesday.   Have a great day.   Valerie

Milkweed pod in Macro

 

I am so late in getting my garden put to bed for the winter.   Finally, this week I found an afternoon to get started and the wheelbarrow filled up quickly with spend plants and weeds that needed to go in the garden trash bag.    The milkweed is considered to be a noxious weed here and farmers are encouraged to eradicate it from their fields.   In my garden however, the milkweed plant is a precious wildflower as the flowers are beautiful and fragrant.  The Monarch butterfly lays its larvae on the milkweed so it would not be pulled up here but encouraged to grow.   The milkweed seed pods are attractive too.  They spill a burst of fluffy seedheads out for next years plants.  I did pull up most of the plants as we will have more than enough fallen seed for next years growth.  I think the photo looks like a mini armadillo doesn’t it?   The rest of the week has been a bust in the garden.  I caught a bad cold and so am coddling myself until it passes.   I have spring bulbs to plant but maybe hubby will help me with that this weekend.  

I am joining Laura at Blogging from Bolivia for Macro Friday.    Have a wonderful weekend.  Valerie